The Sepulcher
by Spartan067
Summary: Taking place a few months after the ending of halo 3, a search party is organized to visit the planet he may have landed on and the secrets it contains
1. Prologue

The Sepulcher

Prologue

"Wake me, when you need me."

Those words seemed to put an end to it all, thought the A.I. Cortana, The War, The Flood, and The Master Chief himself. They where on the half of the _Forward Unto Dawn_ starship that didn't make it. She sent out a distress signal on the ship. Maybe, just maybe, they will be found.

The ship was still drifting, floating towards a large blue planet in the distance, looming from the Horizon


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

ODST Lieutenant James Taylor was sitting in a grey room in a starship. It was fairly large, holding about 10 ODST'S and another 10 Elites.

_Sangheili,_ He mentally corrected himself. He was about 26, with a weak chin, hazel eyes , and thick black hair. He didn't look like a badass, that's for sure. Then there was another thing.

He didn't have the slightest clue what the hell he was doing here.

A Special Operations Elite, clad in black armor, came to the center of the room, accompanied by another ODST. Rather than the angular armor of normal Sangheili, it was curved, smooth, assault armor. It held the mandibles instead of letting them hang loose. It is so fearsome, that they weren't allowed in the covenant.

The ODST took of his helmet. _She, actually,_ a tall woman with dark brown hair and fierce black eyes looked upon him.

"My name is Major Jane Dawson. You can refer to me is Major Dawson, Dawson, or whatever the hell you like."

Lieutenant Taylor promptly commenced to nap. Dawson's eye sneaked upon him.

"Wake up, Soldier" said a voice, deep and reverberating. It was the Sangheili

The Lieutenant opened his eyes and looked

"Thank you SpecOps Domo 'Dosam," said the Major.

The Major walked towards a screen on the wall and pushed a button beside it. A picture of a familiar ship, or rather, half of one, floated on the screen.

"This was the last seen half of the _Forward unto Dawn_. The one containing the Master Chief." She then switched the screen to a vaporized familiar structure.

It was the portal that would lead to the ark.

"Currently, we are in orbit above this portal. In two hours we are going to send a group of approximately 10,000 Sangheilli officers, and 20,000 Marines, 200 of them being us, the ODST's. Our mission: to find the Master Chief,"

There were several cheers throughout the room, and even Dawson cracked a smile.

It was quickly replaced with a look of solemnity. She switched the picture on the screen to what appeared to be a dark blue planet.

"This, is the nearest planet to the Ark. We theorize that if that half of the ship was to crash into any planet, it would be this one."

She turned off the screen. "Now, men" she said "We don't know what is on that planet, it could be anything from master chief to The Covenant, and maybe, god forbid, the flood. So be prepared. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" shouted the crew, Taylor included.

"Alright, now be back here by 1500 hours!"

The congregation split, and headed their separate ways.

A black man walked beside Taylor. He was taller than him, and more muscular.

"Hello, Lieutenant"

"Afternoon Captain Sykes." replied Taylor. Captain Caleb Sykes was like a brother to him. He was funny, yet serious all at once. He was the type of ODST who you would expect smoking a cigarette while shooting the brains out of a brute.

"Waddya think your going to take for weapons, James?" This would normally insult Taylor, as being the rookie of the ODST's, he found it condescending behavior to be called by given names.

"Eh, I dunno cap'n. Maybe a Battle Rifle and a SMG?"

The Captain laughed. "I always go for a SOCOM magnum, and couple it with an MA5C assault rifle."

"Doesn't the SOCOM magnum suck? The only reason it's suppressible is because it's so damn weak!" chuckled Taylor

With this they entered the weapons locker.

The lieutenant picked out an M7 caseless SMG and popped a magazine on the top. He cocked the handle and holstered it. He then slammed a mag into the Br55 Battle rifle. He checked the sight and watched the Captain load a mag into the MA5C, and slam a clip into the pistol.

Now they were ready.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

While the Captain and Lieutenant Taylor were gearing up in the other room, SpecOps Domo Chana'Dosam was getting his gear himself. He entered the room designated to be the Sangheilli weapons locker.

He knew what he wanted to get. He picked up a piece of equipment for his personal use, a deployable bubble shield. The shield was impenetrable at the expense of only protecting the area that it covered. He picked this up and grabbed a Type-51 Covenant Carbine and looked through its 2x scope. As usual, a pattern of hexagons formed around its reticule. He holstered this on his back and picked up two Type-25 Plasma Rifles and strapped these to his thighs. _Perfect for Dual-wielding_. He thought.

"I hope you're up to this." declared another Sangheilli's voice. It was cold and sharp. 'Dosam looked up to see a SpecOps officer, who was clad in a pearly white version of the Special Operations Assault armor. He had the hilt of an Energy Sword strapped to his thigh, and what appeared to be a Type 33- Fuel Rod Gun on his back.

" SpecOps Officer 'Sesoon, I'm sure I'll be able to handle it." 'Dosam replied. 'Sesoon was considered a cold, skilled, tactician. He was below becoming SpecOps commander. He was also one of 'Dosam's rivals.

"But the Spartan, didn't he-"

"Never mind about that now, the Sangheilli have chosen to take part in this mission, to ease relations."

"Don't do anything brash Chana"

"Shut up." was 'Dosam's terse reply. He holstered up and left the room.

"ATTENTION EVERYONE! WE HAVE ENTERED THROUGH THE PORTAL! PLEASE ENTER YOUR CORRESPONDING DROPSHIPS!"

Taylor took this a sign meaning that they would depart. The closest pelican drop ship was N096 which was a short walk away.

"Should we head to the Pelicans?" he asked Captain Sykes. He chuckled strangely.

"No, we're helljumpers. We're going feet first, son." said the Captain.

"Do we have to? I hate those damned drop pods."Taylor reached a glass door, and then pressed a button. Captain Sykes reached a similar door and did the same. Both doors opened to reveal an open pod. He entered it and sat in the chair. The hatch closed. There were two screens. Both contained ODST's, but he could clearly see that they were Major Dawson and Captain Sykes through the visors.

"We will begin the drop shortly, along with some of the Special Operations Sangheilli." said Dawson. Taylor saw the pods shift, they rotated. Through the tiny window of the pod, he saw Captain Syke's Pod, Captain Sykes took a look at him and waved.

"Hiya, soldier." He said cheerfully. A loud female voice blared on the Pod's intercom.

"WE WILL BE DROPPING IN 5…4…3…2…1…0!"

The pods then dropped into space, thruster blaring, down into the blue planet, and the secrets it contained.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Taylor's drop pod shook as it hurtled down into the blue planet. He fought back the urge to vomit. Drop pods always made him…uneasy. Perhaps it was the feeling of helplessness and smallness that you had when you were just in a small pod hurtling from space. He saw his pod enter through the atmosphere of the planet, and briefly passed through a layer of clouds. After he entered the layer of clouds, he saw the city.

The sky was a dull grayish blue, and there appeared to be a city below them. He contemplated what this place could have held. His thoughts turned to the present when he crashed with a jarring impact, which he interpreted as his landing. Dazed, he found the blast buttons, and pressed them. There was a hissing sound as gas collected to the door, and it was blasted off his hinges.

Close by, a Sangheilli Insertion pod crashed into the surface. Rather than the black egg-shaped Drop pod, the insertion pod was tall and resembled a sarcophagus. It split open, revealing its pearly black inside. SpecOps Domo Chana'Dosam dropped from the pod, then stretched. The insertion pods were cramped and uncomfortable, barely fitting a single Sangheilli. He started walking, only to have a large black object seemingly dart across his face. He pulled out a plasma rifle, and aimed it at the place where the object came from. It was a drop pod. He lowered the rifle, just to see an ODST climb out. It was Lieutenant James Taylor.

"Watch where you point that thing." said Taylor. "You could have burned my brains out." 'Dosam Chuckled.

"I would say the same to you, Lieutenant."

Unbeknownst to the two, a red glowing box was thrown nearby. It was a radar jammer. Two cloaked creatures sneakily advanced to their position.

'Dosam's motion tracker went crazy. He looked around alarmed. _Where was all this coming from?_ He checked the sky. It seemed to be clear of drones.

"Lieutenant" barked 'Dosam. The lieutenant looked at him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We are not alone?" replied 'Dosam.

Taylor activated his helmet's Visual Intelligence System Reconnaissance, or VISR. Everything seemed normal. 'Dosam, an ally, outlined in green, and the rest of the terrain was outlined in yellow. Something caught his eye.

There were two yellow outlines advancing towards him. They were shaped like massive apes, about eight feet tall. In each of the shapes' right hands, there appeared to be some sort of object, shaped like an H. _Brutes. With Plasma Rifles. I only know one type of Brute that carries a Plasma Rifle._ They were Stalkers.

Taylor pulled out his SMG. He showed 'Dosam where the Brutes where. With grace, he rolled a live fragmentation grenade to the brutes.

It detonated.

At once, the revealed brutes, now engulfed in a red outline being hostiles, were engulfed in a shower of lead and plasma. In seconds, they were downed, each lying dead in a pool of its own maroon blood. Taylor turned off his VISR. He contacted Dawson

"Major Dawson. Major Dawson!" he called out through his radio.

"Yes Lieutenant?" replied Dawson

"We have been down here for about seven minutes, and we have encountered Covenant forces. We think that there may be more on this planet."

"The Covenant, here?" there was dismay in her voice.

"Yes. There's only me and SpecOps Domo 'Dosam down here. We're requesting-"

"This is Captain Caleb Sykes. We've encountered Covenant forces at our point of landing. We've been pinned down and taking heavy casualties. Requesting backup immediately!"

"It seems that Lieutenant Taylor, and SpecOps Domo 'Dosam have encountered them as well. We'll be sending them to you, along with a few others."

A few pelicans arrived, carrying about thirteen Marines. Taylor was pleased to see a few warthogs, enough to carry mostly everyone. A marine in a warthog drove up to him.

"You and the sangheilli get on. We have a lot of ass to kick."

'Dosam holstered his rifle and pulled out his Carbine. He then climbed into the side seat of the warthog. Taylor went for the gunner seat. He grabbed the handles of the M41 Vulcan machine gun and swung it around. "Let's roll!" he shouted.

The driver hit the gas and the warthogs sped off to meet The Covenant.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_The Covenant, here?_ Those words seem to scare Taylor. He knew that Major Dawson was a fearless, ruthless, and skilled leader. He still heard dismay in her voice though. Did that mean she didn't know what to do?

_This is more serious than I thought._ Taylor thought inwardly. _What the hell did I drop myself into_? He scanned the environment. The City was utterly devoid of life, but it didn't seem messy or disorganized or in anyway of disrepair he usually saw in abandoned cities. It seemed abnormally clean. Sterilized. That was it. The city seemed to have its inhabitants wiped out of existence.

His thoughts came back to the present when he heard the sound of plasma weaponry. He saw a group of seven marines, six Sangheilli and an ODST. They were crouching behind a semicircle of seven rounded metal shields placed into the ground, five feat in height, and two feet in length. Taylor saw dead bodies as well, four marines and three Sangheilli. Past the shields was a large squad of covenant. It wasn't too bad: grunts, brutes, jackals, the normal infantry.

The two groups where in a in some sort of plaza deep within the city. There where a lot of roads and streets that seemed to go through it. The Covenant seemed to be heading in from the northern point, while the defense forces were pinned on the southern end of the plaza. Taylor's Warthog sped towards the hostiles.

He swung the turret to them and pulled the trigger, letting out 12.7x99mm bullets hail the aliens, ripping them to pieces. Bright blue, lavender, and maroon blood stained the ground. A brute shot grenade sped to them and struck them, turning the warthog over. The three occupants of the warthog crawled out and headed for the semicircle. After he safely hid under the shields he talked to Captain Sykes.

"What's the Situation Captain?" he asked

"Well, lieutenant, we've sustained a few casualties and our ammo is low."

"That's all right. Reinforcements should be coming in soon."

The captain reloaded his assault rifle and fired it at a brute. Its shields flared in vain to protect it, but they eventually relented, and the bullets sent the brute down in a bloody heap. The remaining ammo he spent to kill a group of grunts. Taylor pulled out his SMG and aimed it at the grunts. It wasn't very accurate, but its large magazine and high rate of fire made it a lethal weapon.

Caseless Rounds tore up grunts and a few jackals as he emptied the clip onto the fray. After he ran dry he popped off the mag, and placed another one on the top.

One marine deployed a turret; he then manned it, spraying the covenant with machine gun bullets. Then, out of nowhere, a carbine round shot out of the air and struck him in the head. There was a spurt of blood, and the marine fell dead.

"Snipers!" exclaimed Taylor. He pulled out his battle rifle and looked through the scope. _Where are you, you son of a bitch?_ He searched for the lavender mask of the Jackal Sniper. _There._ He saw it. He aimed the gun's reticule at its head and pulled the trigger.

Three 9.5x40mm rounds shot out of the barrel and embedded themselves in the Jackal's head. Lavender blood spurted from its skull and it fell down in a crumpled heap.

Taylor then aimed his rifle at a lance of grunts, taking potshots at their heads. Each pull of the trigger shot three rounds at a time. He then began to take on a brute

_Three to the body, one to the head_. Taylor recited this mantra in his brain as he shot the brute to death. It fell down in a crumpled heap. His clip went empty. He took it out and loaded a new one.

They couldn't last much longer. Taylor was down to his last clips, bodies began piling on both sides, and he was exhausted. He wondered if his brief career in the military was going to end here, outgunned in a firefight by the covenant, then being sent home in a body bag. Maybe he'd be next to the 117 scratched in on the memorial.

His thoughts were interrupted when a gunmetal green (for _all_ covenant separatist vehicles were of this color) Phantom dropship came down. Along with it, a squad of banshees and a few hornets came. The squad assaulted the covenant with plasma and bullets, missiles and fuel rods. Soon the forces were scattered. The aircrafts then hovered around the phantom. A Sangheilli voice reverberated on his radio.

"We've came to relieve and treat the remaining Sangheilli and Humans in this area. Major Dawson has captured some data that may be important for the mission."

The gravity lift of the phantom activated and soon the survivors floated into the phantom, along with Taylor. The gravity lift deactivated and the phantom flew off.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

After he floated into the phantom, Taylor met up with two Sangheilli Minors. They gave him a white octagon with a cross on it. It was a Health Pack. His whole body ached, and there where cuts and bruises all over him.

He broke a few ribs from the brute shot grenade, and he had a few plasma burns and needler wounds in his body. There was also a spike in his left arm, not very deep, but still very painful. He pulled this out, and squeezed some biofoam into the wound. At first it burned, a sensation like ants crawling into the wound, causing him to grimace, but then it numbed and he relaxed.

He treated the rest of the wounds, applying high strength antibacterial medigel to his plasma wounds, then cleaning out and gauzing the places where the needler rounds bursted.

After resting, and eating a sandwich from his rucksack, he talked to a Sangheilli Major on the ship. It directed him to the place where the "data" was held. He found the door and walked through it to see Major Dawson without her helmet on, surrounded by a few Sangheilli and Marines, talking to what appeared to be a rounded silver cube, floating in the air. On its "face" there was a large bluish light the size of a baseball, surrounded by six other ones in a circle. It turned to Taylor. It was a forerunner Monitor.

"Another reclaimer? Excellent. Is this all of them?" it asked Dawson

"Yes. We're all here." The Monitor began to speak.

"Greetings. I am 347 Silent Vigil, Monitor of research facility no. 7"

"That's this place." Interjected Dawson.

"The facility was made by my creators, the Forerunners, to study the flood. I was made to maintain the facility. The facility was made to study the flood, and to find effective countermeasures against it. It was here they developed the weaponry to be used by the halo installations."

"What happened to them?" Asked Taylor.

"They installed a smaller version of the device into the facility. A large flood breakout occurred, and they had to fire it, completely removing all traces of life."

"That's what happened to them." Taylor said. He knew that life was somehow wiped from this place.

"A few weeks ago, a human ship crash-landed on the facility, releasing flood organisms into the facility. Fortunately, I, along with a group of sentinels, have managed to limit the breakout to one particular place. Unfortunately-"

"-The ship is in the area where the flood is contained." Said Taylor, finishing the sentence.

"Yes. And shortly after, the alien Alliance known as The Covenant have stationed here, rallying their forces and regrouping. They have quite an outpost on this place."

"So do you have any news that would help us?" asked Taylor

"Well, I did discover a human AI when I explored the ship, along with a human clad in armor, in Cryosleep. We didn't wake him.

"Show us the AI." Commanded Dawson.

From one of the smaller lights under his "eye" projected the image of a purple woman, with short chin-length hair. Its body was covered with symbols. Taylor Recognized the AI and said only one word.

"Cortana."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"How long has it been?"

That was the first thing that Cortana asked.

"A few months. Seven weeks to be exact." Said Captain Sykes.

"A few months? That's it? it felt like years." She replied.

Cortana then began telling her a story.

She was stuck on the ship with the Master Chief for an interminable amount of time. She was deteriorating slowly, even going into rampancy. In a desperate attempt to fly her way back to earth, she entered the ship's system and powered the thrusters. This failed and they landed on the planet. They crashed into what appeared to be the research facility. Shortly afterward, a swarm of flood invaded the ship. Then a forerunner monitor had entered the ship. She then "Jumped" into the AI.

There she remained until she saw the UNSC ships, and sent a signal to them. Captain Sykes and Major Dawson tracked the signal until they were intercepted by the covenant. Sykes stayed behind while Dawson, and Special Operations Commander Jinzo'Sesoon went in his Phantom to retrieve the "Signal." They found her and 347 Silent Vigil and brought her into the ship. Afterwards they went and finished off the Covenant Forces.

" The Covenant believe this place to be some sort of sanctuary…a haven of some sort. But it's nothing but a tomb. A silent sepulcher."

A marine came into the room with a data crystal chip.

"Here, Cortana. For storage." She touched the chip and disappeared. Its green center flashed green."

"Since we have no Spartans able to hold the chip, somebody has to keep it."

"Not me." said Captain Sykes.

"Not me." said Major Dawson.

"Not me." said all of the marines.

"I will not do it." said 'Dosam and the rest of the Sangheilli.

All Eyes Remained on Taylor.

"Damn."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

'Dosam had a bad feeling about this. Then again, he had a bad feeling about everything.

Cortana and Silent Vigil had directed them to the flood containment center. It was far away from the city, and was the size of a mountain... It was a large Silver Dome shape. The Door was 14x7 feet wide. There were many buildings and catwalks around it. The Plaza in front of it was the size of a small town. There where many catwalks and buildings around the place.

Around the door there were seven Huragok. Otherwise known as Engineers, these creatures were purple bags of gas that floated in the air. Glowing blue tentacles with pink endings stuck out of their bodies, with a glowing blue snakelike head, three eyes on each side. They were covered in star-like harnesses. Bombs. These were in case hostiles approached it. The plaza had a lot of covenant soldiers, at least 84 in it. There where other vehicles too. Wraiths, Ghosts, Choppers, a few prowlers, and even some shade turrets at the bae of the door. Even So, that barely took up a quarter. The UNSC couldn't let The Covenant enter the complex before them, or risk the master chief being attacked. Likewise, trying to destroy the engineers upfront would

'Dosam was with a team of Snipers on the roof of a building, he held a beam rifle in his hands and he had his scope trained on an engineer. His reticule turned red in sight.

He pulled the trigger.

The engineer exploded in a blast of blue-purple blood. Soon the other snipers started shooting at the engineers. They all exploded in a burst of blue purple blood.

A second sniper hit the mark followed by a third, when a beam rifle beam struck one of the sangheilli in the head, causing it to spurt a gush of purple blood. 'Dosam ducked down and saw a jackal sniper with a beam rifle in his scope. _Should I aim for the head? No. more hard to hit and a chest shot would kill it just as quickly._ The Jackal had his gun aimed at 'Dosam as well. Both looked at each other fiercely, as if daring the other to pull the trigger, to make the shot. It was a dangerous game of chicken.

Then, out of nowhere, a 102mm HEAT rocket hit the jackal, blowning it into bloody bits. 'Dosam followed it's trajectory to see an ODST with a M41 rocket launcher in his hands.

"got yourself in a pickle, huh SpecOps Domo?" It was Lieutenant Taylor. 'Dosam chuckled.

"Good shot Taylor, though I do not recommend using up rockets on a Jackal."

"Right."

'Dosam then shot out the remaining engineers. He was picked up via grav lift by a phantom.

Taylor was positioned on a large building. He had a rocket launcher in his hands and he scanned the sky with it, searching for any covenant aircrafts. The first thing that the covenant would do when the Marines and Sangheilli attack them was call the air support, and it would be hell for the ground troops from there Taylor was a man with a balanced set of skills.

But he found it particularly fun to blow up stuff.

He aimed the rocket launcher at the sky, waiting for Major Dawson to give the signal that the ground troops where attacking. Something came on his radio

"We're sending in the attack now!"

Taylor saw from his view the large army of marines and Sangheilli that were going to face the covenant. Marines, Sangheilli, Warthogs and Scorpions, Ghosts, and plenty more, were heading to the fight.

The battle was about to begin.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The battle had begun.

A lance of grunts, armed with plasma pistols and needlers, sneaked across the field, surrounded by fighting soldiers, corpses, and bloods of many colors. They fired upon a group of marines, only to be gunned down by them. A squad of marines headed into battle, only to be cut down by spiker fire, an unfortunate one being eviscerated by a brute with the spiker's bayonets. The said brute was shredded by gunfire when a warthog drove across the field. The warthog was then blown to bits by a great big plasma mortar, sent from a nearby wraith. A rocket fired from a nearby cliff hit the wraith and sent it up in a great blue fireball, courtesy of Lieutenant Taylor.

Taylor placed another set of rockets into the launcher. He used his Visor's binocular vision to spot the Banshees flying ahead.

"Banshees inbound." He said. He turned to Captain Sykes. He had a Model 6 nonlinear rifle (colloquially, the Spartan Laser) in his hands.

"Showtime, baby." Said Captain Sykes.

Seven Banshees flew in a V-shaped formation. They sprayed the field with plasma and fuel rods, laying waste to the ground below. Captain Sykes Aimed his Spartan Laser at a Banshee, a thin laser sight connecting with it. The Laser hummed as the muzzle glowed bright.

A large red laser, as thick as a tennis ball, fired from the laser and turned its target into a blue fireball. Taylor was now out of rockets trying to hit the Banshees (Out of his four fired shots, only one struck a Banshee and that was because it flew into it.) He manned a missile pod and fired the guided missiles to the Banshees. The Banshees soon noticed them and a new squad of them flew with them straight to the artillery.

Captain Sykes fired his last shot blowing up a Banshee. "Damn." He said. "Taylor, are you as bad with a missile pod as you are with an Rocket launcher?"

"Last time I checked, captain, you didn't need to aim as much." Captain Sykes chuckled.

"In that Case, HURRY THE HELL UP!"

Taylor aimed his reticule at a Banshee, locking on to it. He fired at least seven shots at it before he went and aimed at another one firing off a little less. The Banshees rained down plasma and fuel rods, killing two marines. A fuel rod hit the missile pod, and Taylor Just barely dodged it.

They were out of ammo. About three fully armed and dangerous Banshees were heading towards them spewing plasma. They were done for.

Without warning a hornet VTOL flew through the sky, ripping apart the banshees with deadly machinegun fire. The hornet landed and its pilot turned it's head to reveal himself.

_Herself._ Major Dawson was piloting the Hornet that saved Sykes and Taylor, the only two survivors on the rooftop.

"Get in. We've got to give the marines air support."

They were about to climb in when a swarm of Drones flew out of nowhere and yanked Dawson out of the hornet.

"Let go of me, you son of a bitch!" Dawson screamed and punched the drone furiously.

Taylor pulled out his battle rifle and popped the drones head. Major Dawson dropped several feet to the ground, caught by Taylor and Sykes. They let her down. Taylor pulled out his SMG and sprayed the Drones, causing them to drop…well, like flies. They climbed into the Hornet and flew off.

On the side of the hornet was a rocket launcher. Other hornets flew ahead.

"We're nearing a Phantom." said Dawson. "Make every shot count."

"Yes Ma'am: said Taylor and Sykes in unison.

The hornet flew towards a phantom. Unlike Separatist phantoms, Covenant Phantoms were dark purple. Grunts at each side of the phantom fired their plasma cannons at the hornet. Captain Sykes pulled out his Assault rifle and fired at the gunners, killing them. Taylor had his missile pod aimed at the engines at the back of the phantom. Dawson fired off the hornets guided missiles. They hit the engines causing a small explosion.

"Taylor, make the shot!" shouted Captain Sykes.

Taylor aimed his rocket launcher and shot the engine.

The phantom exploded in blue fire.

They all let out a sigh of relief… until they saw _it._

A purple, four-legged, beetle like vehicle was walking across the city straight to the fighters. It sprayed napalm on the ground and sent plasma streaming into the air.

It was a Scarab. The covenant had dealt their last card.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The scarab sent a stream of plasma into the sky, detonating a hornet nearby Dawson.

"Damn!" shouted Taylor. A scorpion tank was crushed by the massive leg of a scarab. The ground below the gushing napalm was scorched. The marines were withdrawing from the field trying to save as many of themselves as they could.

"This is Major Jane Dawson, requesting backup! We need the pelicans. Rescue everyone that you can! And send me some goddamn air support!"

Taylor had an idea. He found about 20 feet of cable in the hornet. He linked it to his belt, and then attached it to the hornet.

"Fly me in low, about 20 feet." said Taylor. He was poised to jump outside of the hornet.

"What, are you crazy?" asked Dawson. Captain Sykes had been using a supply of plasma grenades to blow up close by banshees.

"You're gonna try to take it out from the inside? That's a heroic plan, but stupid as hell." he said.

Nonetheless, Dawson lowered the banshee, dodging flying plasma and napalm.

When they were close enough, Taylor jumped out of the hornet guiding himself through the air like an acrobat. He landed gracefully on the deck of the scarab. Pulling out his battle rifle, he then proceeded to destroying the scarab. Two grunts, both with plasma pistols, appeared. Blue blood spurted from their heads as Taylor hit them with a potshot. He began to make his way towards the inside of the Scarab. It ran on a plasma core, a device that was the engine of the scarab. Damage it enough, it becomes unstable. When it becomes unstable it goes boom.

He found the engine. It was in a chamber with a glowing blue plasma core in it. He pulled out an M9 dual purpose fragmentation grenade, and began to pull put the pin, when he heard a roar behind him. Something smacked him across the flank, and smashed him into the side of the room. He got up, aching, to see a brute chieftain, in its tribal armor with a glowing gravity hammer over his head. It raised the hammer, ready to squash Taylor into a sticky red stain on the side of the wall.

Taylor heard a crack. He saw the chieftain's body go ridged. Its face was contorted in pain. Letting out a whimper, it fell to the floor, dead. Behind it was 'Dosam.

"How stupid can you get? Armed with nothing but that little gun of yours?" asked 'Dosam patronizingly.

"How did you get here?" asked Taylor.

"I got beamed down here by 'Dosam." Replied 'Dosam. He went to a plasma cannon on the deck of the scarab. With a firm pull, the cannon broke loose of its bonds. He aimed it at the plasma core, firing streams of superheated plasma.

The core became unstable, turning at first purple, then a dangerous red color.

"We need to get outta here." Said Taylor. 'Dosam flagged a hornet, and they both climbed in.

The scarab bursted in a great blue fireball.

Dawson and Sykes watched from their hornet.

"Sykes?" asked Dawson

"Yes, Ma'am?" he replied

"If Taylor survives this… remind me to give him a promotion."

Sykes looked at her.

"Promotion," Sykes mused. "Hell, I'd make him a Spartan."


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Despite our efforts against them, the Covenant has managed to break into the flood containment center." That was the report given by SpecOps officer Jinzo 'Sesoon.

"Damn." Said Taylor. He looked to Major Dawson, then 'Sesoon They were sitting in a pelican, a holotank suspended between the two isles. It projected a hemispherical shape from its surface; near the bottom right of it was a glowing blue sphere. That sphere located the position of master chief in the forerunner complex.

"This is where we believe the Spartan is. The forerunner structure is seven levels below the ground, The flood is known to be inside the compound."

" We'll be deploying four teams inside the complex, Two marine forces, two Sangheili" said Dawson. "We know that there is a grav lift in the center of the first level but it is infested with the flood. The only way in is…"

"From the Top," said Taylor, finally finishing the sentence.

Taylor looked at his wrist. On it was a TACPAD used by officers in the corps. It held a built in holotank, a motion tracker, and a database. Most of all, it could hold an AI chip. He was in effect, a Spartan. All he needed was the shield.

"Lieutenant," said Dawson, He looked to her. "Can I count on you to lead this mission, lead it to success?"

Taylor pulled out an M90a shotgun from behind his back. He loaded six shells into the gun, slowly, savoring the feel of the cold metal. He then gripped the pump and pulled it back with full force, sliding it then back into its original position.

"Yes, you can count on me."

The Pelican landed, Taylor feeling the weariness coming. Only a few hours ago, he destroyed an entire scarab. He was tired, and he only wanted to go home.

But alas

When they unloaded, Taylor was accompanied by a group of seven marines. Each held an MA5 in their hands.

" Let's go." Said Taylor

'Dosam and his fireteam of Sangheili entered through the doors. It was dark inside the complex, and it smelled. He felt his feet plop softly into something, which was, to his disgust, flood biomass. It was a brownish green, moist and soft. He felt as though he was walking into a marsh. The Sangheili turned on their flashlights and began to march.

'Dosam trudged through the dark, there being no sounds, save for the soft plop if their footsteps in the dark. The flash lights shined upon the environment, covered with flood, greenish and sickly. They didn't see the round pods, filled and ready to burst.

Taylor was also walking. However, his marines talked cheerfully, without regard. Their MA5C rifles had flashlights underneath the barrels, shining their way through. Taylor used his VISR system, his teammates outlined in green, and everything else in a yellow border.

"You think we're gonna see any flood here?" asked one

"Probably. With all the hosts to infect, they're gonna have a ball."

"Then this is crazy. We ought to head outta here!"

"Hey, look at these babies. Seven six two millimeter full metal jacket. They wanna party? We got our invites."

"I dunno, I have a bad feeling about this."

"You always have a bad feeling!"

At this point in time, Taylor noticed something on his TACPAD's motion tracker. A single red dot, an enemy, moving right behind them.

"Hey! I've got movement!"

At that exact time, a flood infection form, a hideous green little creature the size of a football, latched onto one of the marines. He screamed an ear piercing, bloodcurdling scream. His skin decayed, turning green. There were cracking sounds as his neck was pushed back, face frozen in a hideous scream. A thick green tentacle ripped out of his arm and lashed furiously, like a severed lizard tail.

Taylor fired his shotgun. _BLAM!_ The soon to be combat form exploded, spraying warm moist flood spores. Limbs were strewn everywhere

More red dots appeared on the motion tracker, heading for their position

Taylor cocked his shotgun, ejecting a shell.

"Alright, marines," said Taylor. "Let's get this party started."


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Taylor's Motion Tracker made a loud pinging noise. He glanced at it and saw seven dots circling the screen. He fumbled for another shell and loaded it into the gun.

The marines were as scared as hell. They tightly gripped their MA5 assault rifles, the bright white cones of light from the flashlights feverishly searching. Taylor kept his sight on the marines, his nerves worsening with each ping of the tracker. He noticed a shape, outlined in red, running towards them from the corner of his eye.

"Over there!" He shouted to the marines, pointing at the direction of the shape. Six cones of light fell upon it, revealing its true shape.

It was a Sangheili combat form. Its blue armor was broken and cracked. It held a plasma rifle in one hand; the other was a long diseased looking tentacle. Its head was curled back, and from its bare chest resided two flowery feelers.

A marine shredded it with his assault rifle. The creature fell to the floor. The marines were now in a circle, back to back, each one searching in the dark.

More footsteps. A marine aimed his flashlight just to see something crawl away from the light.

He fired, but instead of hitting the target, he burst open an entire flood growth pod.

It burst, and from the pod several infection forms came out rushing to them. The marines fired at them catching all but one, which latched on to another marine. He was immediately killed. There were now six men left, Taylor included.

" Run!" He shouted

The six men ran blindly, knowing nothing of what would come, just charging ahead, fueled with adrenaline and mad with terror. Taylor's heart raced, and his ears rang with screams, mostly his own. He finally stopped his berserker charge and turned behind him.

There was no one

"Hello" Taylor called out weakly. Footsteps answered him

Six human combat forms formed a semicircle closing in on him. They each held MA5 rifles in their hands. Their Marine BDU's were torn. Their heads were curled back, perpetual screams etched upon their faces. Taylor's heart leapt to his throat.

He fired.

BLAM, CHIK-CHIK! BLAM, CHIK-CHIK!

Taylor fired at his former comrades. No sound rang in his mind. All he was thinking was why the hell they didn't make his shotgun semi-automatic.

At last, the barrage of buck stopped spewing from his scatter gun. He looked at the strewn limbs and massive stain of flood spores on the ground. He absently pushed shells into the tube magazine of the shotgun. He heard a humming sound behind him.

Behind him was a circular atrium, in its center a large circular tunnel, twelve feet in diameter glowing with blue light. A gravity lift.

A sangheili combat form stood in front of the lift. It held a Type-1 energy sword in its hand. Two curved blades of hardened plasma were on either side of the handle. The sangheili was clad in white armor. Not unlike the armor of…

_'Sesoon. It's Jinzo'Sesoon_

"Step away from the gravity lift, parasite." commanded a deep voice. Taylor turned his head. It was 'Dosam.

The bottom of 'Dosam's helmet was torn off. His mandibles hung loosely in below his head. In his hand, he clutched the handle of an energy sword. It tensed, and with the sound of crackling lightning, two curved blades of glowing blue plasma projected from either end of the sword. A deep guttural growl emerged from 'Dosam's throat, and his body tensed. It curled into a fighting position.

The flood form twittered and imitated his stance.

Taylor could feel the raw power in the air. The fight was about to begin.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The two duelers encircled each other, pacing in a small circle. 'Dosam's form was tense, but his mandibles were relaxed, rhythmically opening and closing like the lips of a clam. The flood form was looser, and its flowery feelers waved menacingly in a taunt. Both were inviting the other to strike first, to break the tense deadlock that they were in.

The flood form struck first. It lunged at 'Dosam. 'Dosam uncurled, revealing to Taylor that his fighting stance wasn't an offensive pose, but a defensive one. 'Dosam pulled up his sword and delivered a successful parry, fending off the blade, and pushing the flood form back a few steps. 'Dosam then delivered a counter attack, lunging at the flood form with the blade high above his head.

The flood form delivered a parry, and knocked 'Dosam to the side. Disoriented, the flood form lunged at him, but 'Dosam recovered. He then swung at the flood form with a savage attack, hoping to frighten it off.

But the Flood form wasn't scared. It calmly blocked and delivered its counterattack which scraped 'Dosam's armor. The white energy shielding flared up to block it.

The deadlock returned, and each returned circling each other. Restlessly. Anxiously.

'Dosam was nervous. He knew that 'Sesoon was a formidable sword Dueler, and 'Dosam lost many a time in their sword duels. The flood form had all of 'Sesoon's skills as a duelist. Worse, it couldn't tire itself out.

'Dosam had an idea. He made a mad lunge to the creature, screaming a loud Sangheili Battle cry. The flood form had his blade raised, perfectly centered to impale 'Dosam and his mad lunge.

But this was what 'Dosam wanted. He swung the sword straight into the blade, intercepting the prongs. He twisted it so that both swords were locked in place.

'Dosam and the flood form struggled for control, the blades shunting from left to right. "Dosam slowly depressed a button on the energy sword.

All energy swords were created with a failsafe device used to destroy it. The failsafe released the magnetic field shaping the swords' blades, and causes it to dissipate, destroying the sword. When 'Dosam pressed this button, his blade dissipated in a cloud of plasma. This cloud destroyed the second energy sword, causing its blade to go out, as though a light bulb was switched off.

They stared at each other, unsure of what to make of the stalemate. The flood form eyed him cautiously, but 'Dosam was prepared. Pulled out two Plasma rifles and fired them both at the Flood form. It exploded in spores.

Taylor watched with amazement. He never saw an energy sword duel this tense. 'Dosam looked at him.

"Descend the gravity lift. It's time we meet the Master Chief."

They went down the gravity lift. It was a quiet descent. Taylor felt a tingling sensation throughout his body. He was going to meet the Master Chief, the war hero, who survived battles that brought armies to their knees. Above that, he was a _Spartan_. Taylor never met a Spartan in Person.

Taylor's Thoughts were interrupted when they reached the end of the gravity lift, and his feet touched the ground. He looked into a long corridor, whose architecture was distinctly different from the rest of the Room, somehow it was more familiar. Taylor then recognized it as the second half of the UNSC frigate, _Forward unto Dawn_. He walked slowly down the hallway, and saw that there were no flood forms in sight.

"I think we destroyed all the flood forms in the complex." Said 'Dosam.

They walked into the corridor, lined by racks of weaponry. Taylor pulled a loaded MA5C assault rifle out of one of the racks, which he slung on his back. They soon reached a row of cryochambers. All were transparent except for one, which was frosted over.

'Dosam looked at the tube pensively. Here he was, inches from the demon of the covenant army, the hero of the humans. It was some sort of rite of passage. He touched the plastasteel cover pensively. He opened the tube.


	14. Epilogue

Epilogue

When John-117, better known as the Master Chief, woke up, he didn't know where he was. He didn't know who were the two figures standing in front of him. He didn't know where Cortana was. One was a man clad in the BDU of an ODST, the other a Sangheili SpecOps. The ODST handed him a green glowing rectangle. He placed it in the back of his helmet. A warm familiar voice rang in his ears.

"Good morning, Chief. Welcome Back"


End file.
